Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/12): Kranson Helps Kernels To Win

[Seth Stohs]

All four Twins affiliates were back on the field on Wednesday. Chattanooga made the off day trek down to Jacksonville to start a new series against several old friends. Lefty Randy Rosario joined the team there and will work out of their bullpen. The Kernels played a getaway game in Kane County before heading home for a weekend series. The Red Wings, like the Twins, are playing a lot of afternoon games, and they did so again on Wednesday. Jose Berrios will make his second start of the season on Thursday afternoon in Buffalo.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Buffalo 5

Box Score

 

David Hurlbut was the one starting pitcher who hadn’t made a start, until Wednesday. He worked 5.1 innings and was charged with four runs, though none of them were earned. The Red Wings defense committed four errors in the game. Hurlbut gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four. He was replaced by Raul Fernandez, who made his AAA debut. The right-hander allowed the inherited runners to score and later one of his own in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Buddy Boshers worked a perfect inning, striking out one.

 

Offensively, the Red Wings weren’t able to score until after they were down 5-0. In the eighth, they got RBI singles from Leonardo Reginatto and Matt Hague, but it wasn’t enough. Hague went 2-4. Ben Paulsen was also 2-4. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 and is now hitting .381 on the young season. Chad Allen argued a strike call early in the game. The umpire didn’t like that and ejected the Red Wings hitting coach.

 

With the loss, the Red Wings are now 4-2 on the season.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Jacksonville 7

Box Score

 

The Lookouts took their show on the road for the first time this season with a series at Jacksonville against the Jumbo Shrimp. Jacksonville has four players on their roster with Twins ties. LHP Matt Tomshaw will start for them on Thursday. Jeremias Pineda is an outfielder. Omar Bencomo split last season with the Lookouts and Red Wings. He signed with the Marlins after pitching for Venezuela in the WBC. He’ll start on Friday night. Finally, RHP Chris Mazza is also on their roster.

 

The biggest bit of news is from tonight’s game is that Nick Gordon started at second base. After starting all five games in Chattanooga at shortstop, he moved to the other side of second with Engelb Vielma taking over at shortstop. We will see how it plays out over the next weeks and even the next few games. It makes more sense to let them settle in at a position for several games rather than moving back and forth too often.

 

Now to the game. Frankly, it didn’t go well. Kohl Stewart was on the mound for his second start. The right-hander went just 2.1 innings. He was charged with seven runs on four hits. He walked five and struck out three. Just 37 of his 75 pitches were strikes.

 

But the bullpen kept things where they were, combining for 5.2 scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel came on and struck out six batters in 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked none. Randy Rosario, who came up from the Miracle earlier in the day, worked two perfect innings. Nick Burdi gave up a hit, but struck out two, in a scoreless eighth inning.

 

The offense managed just five hits in the game. Engelb Vielma went 2-4. The Lookouts scored their lone run in the fourth inning. Dan Rohlfing hit a triple and scored on a Jonathan Rodriguez groundout. Dan Gamache was 1-2 with a walk.

 

The loss evened the Lookouts record at 3-3.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 3

Box Score

 

The Miracle got a tremendous start, and they had a late lead, but in the end, they lost in walk-off fashion.

 

Down 1-0 after three innings, the Miracle scored on in the fourth. Chris Paul and Rafael Valera led off the inning with walks. Brian Navarreto advance them with a bunt, and Trey Vavra drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Casey Scoggins drove in Nelson Molina with a single to give the Miracle a lead.

 

Dereck Rodriguez was terrific. Through seven innings, he gave up just one run. He gave up a solo home run to lead off the top of the eighth inning which tied the game at two. He got through the inning. On the night, Rodriguez went eight innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He struck out six without issuing a walk.

 

In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Theofanopoulos came on. He gave up a one-out double. With two outs, he gave up a single that scored the winning run. The Miracle fell to 1-6 on the young season.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 1

Box Score

 

The Kernels played a morning game, got a win and will start a homestand against Wisconsin on Thursday night.

 

Eddie Del Rosario started out well. He struck out three in the first inning. Through three innings, he faced nine batters and had five strikeouts. However, he struggled in the fifth inning, loading the bases and allowing a run before being removed. His final line was one earned run on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in 4.2 innings. He struck out seven. Andrew Vasquez came on and got out of the fifth and worked three more innings without allowing a run. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out three. Colton Davis worked a perfect ninth frame, striking out two.

 

The offense was pretty spread out. Jermaine Palacios led off and was 2-4 to raise his early-season average to .360. Mitchell Kranson went 2-4, and his first homer of the season came right after Kane County had tied the game at one. Jaylin Davis added his first homer of the year in the eighth inning. He also stole his second base. Ariel Montesino went 1-3 with a walk.

 

The win pushes the Kernels back over .500 at 4-3.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitchell Kranson, Cedar Rapids Kernels

 

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Buffalo (12:05 CST) - RHP Jose Berrios

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville - (6:05 CST) - LHP Matt Tracy

Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak

Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Tyler Wells

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games.

 

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[Deduno Abides]

The Lookouts have a lot of relievers who need to pitch. The good news about Stewart is that they'll get the chance. If he doesn't pick it up, he should look for a football scholarship.

[nater79a]

Kohl...Kohl...Kohl. Man, not good.

 

On the bright side, he did average over a strikeout per inning for the game. (Fun with small sample sizes)

[Deduno Abides]

Gonsalves, Jay still injured, Chargois mysteriously not pitching, Stewart looking like a bust - this needs to turn around or the rebuild is going to take a lot longer.

[clutterheart]

Not a great day for the system yesterday.  

 

I think if Stewart gets rocked a few times maybe that is not so bad.  With his ability to induce weak contact he hasn't had to change it up much over his career.  If he struggles against better AA competition, it will force him to alter his approach and hopefully go for the K a bit more.  - Reports say he has the ability.

 

I would've liked to see  Del Rosario get a chance to pitch himself out of that jam in the 4th.  He is not so young anymore and if he is going to be a starter, he has to learn how to get out of those situations.

 

 

[Vanimal46]

Just 37 of Stewart's 75 pitches were strikes.... Yikes. Is he trying something different mechanically and just working out the kinks? Overall I'm just curious how the new regime will develop him in order to get more K's and reach his potential.... 

[Steve Lein]

This type of outing is nothing new for Kohl, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. I'll demonstrate:

 

He made his AA-debut on June 4th of last year. He gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 1.2 innings. In his next two starts he gave up 3 runs in 12.2 innings.

 

Then he gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings. In his two starts after that he gave up 3 runs in 14 innings.

 

His following start was 7 runs (4 earned) in 3.2 innings. Then he basically was fantastic in his last 9 starts, going from 2-4 as a starter to finish 9-6. 

 

My point is: you're going to get burned on Kohl if you lose all hope after one bad game.

 

 

[Tom Froemming]

 

Not a great day for the system yesterday.  

 

I think if Stewart gets rocked a few times maybe that is not so bad.  With his ability to induce weak contact he hasn't had to change it up much over his career.  If he struggles against better AA competition, it will force him to alter his approach and hopefully go for the K a bit more.  - Reports say he has the ability.

 

I would've liked to see  Del Rosario get a chance to pitch himself out of that jam in the 4th.  He is not so young anymore and if he is going to be a starter, he has to learn how to get out of those situations.

This is a great point on Stewart. I honestly do not believe Kohl is trying to strike anybody out. I think he's trying to be efficient. That strategy makes a lot of sense for him up to this point in his career.

 

Coming into the draft, one of the biggest question marks surrounding Stewart involved the fact he has Type 1 diabetes. It seemed there were some questions surrounding his durability. While we would have loved to see him dominate, he has certainly answered any questions about his ability to handle a starter's workload. He's gone from 87 to 129.1 to 143.2 innings pitched the past three seasons.

 

And he has been successful, so there was little incentive for him to adjust his approach. But you hit the nail on the head, if he gets clobbered like this on a regular basis we'll see him make some adjustments and try harder to miss bats.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I would've liked to see Del Rosario get a chance to pitch himself out of that jam in the 4th. He is not so young anymore and if he is going to be a starter, he has to learn how to get out of those situations.

Del Rosario is 21! I was following the play log as it was going on, and after a killer start Del Rosario pretty clearly began to falter suddenly. After he let in a run on a bases loaded walk, he was removed. The reliever pitched out of a stressful inning, Del Rosario maintains his low ERA, and the team won the game, so win-win for everyone. jmo Edited April 13, 2017 by Hosken Bombo Disco

[clutterheart]

 

Del Rosario is 21! I was following the play log as it was going on, and after a killer start Del Rosario pretty clearly began to falter suddenly. After he let in a run on a bases loaded walk, he was removed. The reliever pitched out of a stressful inning, Del Rosario maintains his low ERA, and the team won the game, so win-win for everyone. jmo

 

He turns 22 in 35 days.  That is not young for Low A ball.  Del Rosario ave'd only 5.1 innings as a starter in 16 games at CR last year.  He has to figure out how to get out of these jams or get moved to the bullpen.  

Also I don't care about wins at Cedar Rapids (or ERA).  I care about player development.  And its time for the development staff to step in and tell Watkins how to manage.  

 

[Mr. Brooks]

This type of outing is nothing new for Kohl, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. I'll demonstrate:

 

He made his AA-debut on June 4th of last year. He gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 1.2 innings. In his next two starts he gave up 3 runs in 12.2 innings.

 

Then he gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings. In his two starts after that he gave up 3 runs in 14 innings.

 

His following start was 7 runs (4 earned) in 3.2 innings. Then he basically was fantastic in his last 9 starts, going from 2-4 as a starter to finish 9-6.

 

My point is: you're going to get burned on Kohl if you lose all hope after one bad game.

I'm not worried about ever getting burned by Stewart. His upside, IMO is 5th starter on a bad team/ AAAA depth.

I'd love to be wrong.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

He turns 22 in 35 days.  That is not young for Low A ball.  Del Rosario ave'd only 5.1 innings as a starter in 16 games at CR last year.  He has to figure out how to get out of these jams or get moved to the bullpen.  

Also I don't care about wins at Cedar Rapids (or ERA).  I care about player development.  And its time for the development staff to step in and tell Watkins how to manage.  

I know virtually nothing about the guy, so I am relying on you.

 

You are welcomed to provide data or insight on Del Rosario on his prospect thread. However, my understanding is that those threads are meant to report and track progress and err on the side of being supportive.

[Seth Stohs]

 

He turns 22 in 35 days.  That is not young for Low A ball.  Del Rosario ave'd only 5.1 innings as a starter in 16 games at CR last year.  He has to figure out how to get out of these jams or get moved to the bullpen.  

Also I don't care about wins at Cedar Rapids (or ERA).  I care about player development.  And its time for the development staff to step in and tell Watkins how to manage.  

 

Minor league ball is all about player development, though I have come to believe in the last 4-5 years that learning how to win is and should be part of the development process... There are plans for all of them. 21 is not "old" by any means for Cedar Rapids. Not even close. My guess is that later in the season, even 3-4 weeks from now, it might be done differently. Lots go into these decisions. I think questioning Watkins every decision is silly, especially because he has been a manager for like a week. He'll learn. Very smart guy. And, from watching that game, I don't really disagree with his decision at that time.